Use of the Ar₂⁺ signal as a diagnostic tool in solid sampling electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

The utility of the Ar-2(+) signal (at mass-to-charge ratio m/z=80) as a diagnostic tool in solid sampling electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS) is reported, Simultaneous monitoring of the argon dimer signal with the signal(s) of the analyte element(s) indicated that non-spectral interferences, caused by matrix components co-volatilizing with the analyte element(s), can strongly affect the analyte signal profiles in solid sampling ETV-ICP-MS of samples of biological or environmental origin, This observation led to a more profound understanding of why, for a given matrix, the signal profiles strongly differ from one element to another, and why, for a given element, the signal profile is seen to be strongly dependent on the matrix, These matrix effects were also observed to cause a curvature in the sample mass response curves (analyte signal intensity as a function of sample mass), It is shown that, at least in some instances, the use of the Ar-2(+) signal as an internal standard allows (i) this non-linearity to be corrected for and (ii) accurate analysis results to be obtained, Finally, it is demonstrated that simultaneous registration of the argon dimer and the analyte signal(s) is useful during optimization of ashing and vaporization temperatures.

@article{186397,
abstract = {The utility of the Ar-2(+) signal (at mass-to-charge ratio m/z=80) as a diagnostic tool in solid sampling electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS) is reported, Simultaneous monitoring of the argon dimer signal with the signal(s) of the analyte element(s) indicated that non-spectral interferences, caused by matrix components co-volatilizing with the analyte element(s), can strongly affect the analyte signal profiles in solid sampling ETV-ICP-MS of samples of biological or environmental origin, This observation led to a more profound understanding of why, for a given matrix, the signal profiles strongly differ from one element to another, and why, for a given element, the signal profile is seen to be strongly dependent on the matrix, These matrix effects were also observed to cause a curvature in the sample mass response curves (analyte signal intensity as a function of sample mass), It is shown that, at least in some instances, the use of the Ar-2(+) signal as an internal standard allows (i) this non-linearity to be corrected for and (ii) accurate analysis results to be obtained, Finally, it is demonstrated that simultaneous registration of the argon dimer and the analyte signal(s) is useful during optimization of ashing and vaporization temperatures.},
author = {Vanhaecke, Frank and Galb{\'a}cs, G{\'a}bor and Boonen, Sylvie and Moens, Luc and Dams, Richard},
issn = {0267-9477},
journal = {JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL ATOMIC SPECTROMETRY},
keyword = {solid sampling electrothermal vaporization,argon dimer (Ar-2(+)),inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry,matrix effects,INTERNAL STANDARDIZATION,LASER ABLATION,ELEMENTS},
language = {eng},
number = {12},
pages = {1047--1052},
title = {Use of the Ar\unmatched{2082}\unmatched{207a} signal as a diagnostic tool in solid sampling electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/ja9951001047},
volume = {10},
year = {1995},
}